World War II hero Rip was a mixed breed terrier. It is likely that he was made homeless by the Luftwaffe attack on Poplar, East London, in 1940. Having survived the bombing, he roamed the streets as a stray. During his wanderings, however, he encountered an Air Raid Precaution Warden who tossed him a few titbits, probably hoping that he would take the scraps and be on his way. Instead, the Warden (one Mr E. King) found himself with a new partner.

The dog, who had no formal training, showed an innate talent for locating casualties trapped beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings. As such, he became the service's first "sniffer dog". Of his own accord, he worked through the crashes and explosion of the Blitz, braving fire, smoke, and the apparently terrifying air-raid sirens. After blackout he accompanied Mr King on a nightly tour of street shelters. He saved more than 100 people and inspired the authorities to begin official training of sniffer dogs to trace casualties.

In July 1945, he was awarded the PDSA * Medal, reserved for animals displaying "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" serving or associated with the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units.

His medal recently fetched over £24,000 at an auction in London, giving us an opportunity to remember him.

Ah, that's a great story. A medal is the least they could have given for the wonderful service he gave to all.

I wonder who will get the medal in the auction. Whoever the winner is, I hope they take good care of it.

Although there is nothing wrong with an auction, I myself think it would have been better to contribute it to some kind of museum or place like that where everyone could see it, appreciate it, and learn more about the dog, "sniffers", etc.

What, what a dog. Not only did he save all those lives of the people he found, but also all the lives of people found by the dogs trained because of his example. That's a really impressive critter! I agree, he definitely deserves a museum exhibit.

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